Brit Award for British Artist of the Year
{{Short description|British music award}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox award
| name = {{nowrap|Brit Award for British Artist of the Year}}
| image = CharliXCXBirm291124 (52 of 145) (54179732601) (cropped).jpg
| image_upright = 0.7
| caption = 2025 winner: Charli XCX
| awarded_for = British Artist of the Year
| country = United Kingdom (UK)
| presenter = British Phonographic Industry (BPI)
| year = 2022
| year2 =
| holder = Charli XCX (2025)
| most_awards = None
| most_nominations =
| website = {{URL|http://www.brits.co.uk}}
}}
The Brit Award for British Artist of the Year is an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom.{{cite web|url=http://www.bpi.co.uk/about-bpi.aspx|title=About the BPI|publisher=British Phonographic Industry (BPI)|accessdate=22 February 2014|archive-date=6 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151206225605/http://www.bpi.co.uk/about-bpi.aspx|url-status=dead}} The accolade is presented at the Brit Awards, an annual celebration of British and international music.{{cite web|url=http://www.bpi.co.uk/brit-awards.aspx|title=BRIT Awards|publisher=British Phonographic Industry (BPI)|accessdate=22 February 2014|archive-date=6 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906195429/https://www.bpi.co.uk/brit-awards.aspx|url-status=dead}} The winners and nominees are determined by the Brit Awards voting academy with over one thousand members, which comprise record labels, publishers, managers, agents, media, and previous winners and nominees.{{cite web|url=http://www.brits.co.uk/about-us/who-votes-for-the-brit-awards|title=And the nominees are...|work=Brits.co.uk|publisher=British Phonographic Industry (BPI)|accessdate=22 February 2014}}
The current holder of the award is Charli XCX, who won in 2025.
History
The category was introduced in 2022 and combined the previous categories for British Female Solo Artist and British Male Solo Artist. The restructuring of these categories was a result of the Academy's wish to eliminate the distinctions between male and female artists and replace it with new gender-neutral category.{{cite news |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/brit-awards-gender-neutral-1261781/ |title=Brit Awards Announce New Gender-Neutral Categories |work=Rolling Stone |date=22 November 2021}} This category is intended to honour solo artists, as groups are still nominated in the British Group category.
Following an all-male shortlist in 2023, the list of nominees was expanded from five to ten beginning with the 2024 Brit Awards in an effort to increase diversity.{{Cite web |date=2023-11-24 |title=
Brit awards extend best artist shortlist to 10 after 2023’s all-male lineup|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/24/brit-awards-extend-best-artist-shortlist-to-10-after-2023-all-male-lineup |access-date=2023-12-02 |website=The Guardian |language=en-GB}}
Eligibility
In order to be eligible for the Artist of the Year award, "an artist must have achieved at least one top 40 album or two top 20 singles" during the Brits eligibility period, which generally runs from early December of one year to a similar date of the following year (e.g. the eligibility period for the 2023 Brit awards was 10 December 2021 to 9 December 2022). To determine the nominees for the category, record labels are invited to submit their eligible artists for consideration for the members of the BPI to vote on. Each of the approximately 1,200 members chooses their personal top five in order of preference and the votes are counted to produce the shortlist of five nominees.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64264069|title=Brit Awards 2023: Why are no women nominated for best artist?|work=BBC News|date=14 January 2023}}
Winners and nominees
Artists with multiple nominations
Controversy
In 2023, the awards attracted controversy due to all five nominees for the solo award being male.{{Cite web |last=Aubrey |first=Elizabeth |date=2023-01-13 |title=BRIT Awards face backlash for all male Artist Of The Year nominations |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/brit-awards-face-backlash-for-all-male-artist-of-the-year-nominations-3380377 |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |date=2023-01-14 |title=Brit Awards 2023: Why are no women nominated for best artist? |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64264069 |access-date=2023-01-16}}
See also
Notes
- Adele (2008) also won the Brit Award for Rising Star
- Adele (2012, 2016) also won the Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Brit Awards}}
{{Brit British Artist}}